Chapter 10: Phantom Thief Hunter

“Did she just say she doesn’t like you? Dana?”

Han Jibin reacted with surprise at what Dana, who wasn’t usually very athletic, said as she darted away.

Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing. Except for one person.

“You’re not surprised? You used to be really annoyed by Dana.”

Eunbada asked Ban Eunhyeol, who reacted indifferently despite it likely being exactly what she’d wanted to hear, with an inquisitive tone.

“Stop right there, ugh!”

Ban Eunhyeol grabbed the scruff of the neck of one of the four Gonju High thugs who were chasing after Dana, and watched Dana disappear into the distance.

“Yeah, I knew.”

Starting with the first of the four Gonju High thugs whose neck was grabbed, the remaining three were also caught shortly after.

“Ban Eunhyeol, are you taking that girl’s side right now? Over me?”

Seeing that scene, Han Gooreum approached Ban Eunhyeol with disbelief in her voice.

The main culprits who caused this whole situation with talk of dates and such were nowhere to be seen, as if they had watched the situation unfold and then fled.

“Who are you?”

Ban Eunhyeol, clutching her throbbing head and speaking irritably, threw down the necks of the four Gonju High thugs she was holding in both hands.

“Cough, hack!”

Clutching their throats and coughing, the four thugs gathered around Han Gooreum, forming a circle around her to protect her.

“What are they doing?”

“Oh, playing princess.”

“Ridiculous…”

Watching them, Han Jibin, Eunbada, and Ji Ganghan exchanged a few words and then walked away, as if there was no need to see any more.

Ban Eunhyeol seemed to think the same, throwing out her final words before following them out of the school gate.

“Don’t try to link me with her. She doesn’t like me.”

Her last words were light, as if she felt a sense of relief, but only her friends, who had known her for a long time, sensed this.

***

As soon as I exited the school gate, I went straight home without stopping anywhere else.

“I need to get back to my original world quickly.”

It felt like just yesterday I was devising a plan, thinking I couldn’t be dragged around by a future that diverged from the original plot, by this rapidly changing world within the novel!

Somehow, it still felt like I was being dragged around by this world.

My second plan was more serious than the first, which was transferring schools.

It was called ‘Gate Scavenging.’

Since I seemed to have transmigrated into this world by choosing the wrong path at a fork in an S-rank dungeon, there must be a way back to my original world within a dungeon.

The system also seemed to hint that I should keep going to dungeons.

A sinister thought crossed my mind, if I transmigrated from an S-rank dungeon, maybe the only way back was also an S-rank dungeon.

But for now, I had to keep all possibilities open.

I double-checked the locations of the gates I had found on the map. If I had my way, I’d unleash my summons to search many dungeons at once, but since I couldn’t, I planned to explore at least one a day.

‘Ideally, I want a gate that hasn’t been discovered yet.’

Discovered gates were quickly auctioned off, and their ownership and raiding rights transferred to specific guilds.

Once a gate opened, monsters wouldn’t appear outside for a week, and anyone could go in and out.

This made dungeon ownership incredibly important.

The items from killing boss monsters and the byproducts of dungeons were very valuable, so the auction system was designed to allow only the owning guild to enter.

However, starting this morning, I’m going to raid all the gates that various guilds have won in auction. I desperately hope a way back to my original world appears from somewhere, and that the gates opened in this world deactivate.

***

It was predawn, with the moonlight hidden by clouds, and deep darkness settled over everything.

After confirming her parents were asleep, Dana changed into all black clothes from head to toe, put on a black mask, and opened her window.

[Skill, ‘Shadow Form’ is activated.]

Swoosh, Dana, who had been standing in front of the window just moments ago, vanished without a trace.

Shadow Form.

It was a stealth skill that allowed her to become a shadow itself, moving unseen by people or monsters.

Just as Dana’s shadow was nearing the gate,

On a deserted street, there was a man crouching behind a telephone pole.

“Choco, stop pooping so much.”

It was Do Ihyeon, the top student at Iljinsang High, who had completely reversed his day and night schedule, taking his dog for a walk in the desolate early hours.

Being of a timid nature and preferring places without people, his predawn walks were the most precious time of his day.

Woof woof!

Perhaps because he was still a puppy, Choco’s barks were utterly adorable as he fiercely barked towards something.

“Huh, what’s wrong?”

Do Ihyeon, who had tied up the waste bag and stood up, followed Choco’s gaze towards the end of the street, near the park entrance.

“There’s nothing there… huh?”

His sensitive perception detected a magical force approaching the park at a rapid pace.

Sensing something unusual, Do Ihyeon used a stealth skill and hid himself behind the telephone pole.

Whether it was Choco, who had noticed something first and barked, or Do Ihyeon, who perfectly concealed his presence with a stealth skill befitting a rank 2. Like owner, like dog.

Do Ihyeon’s eyes narrowed as he saw someone suddenly appear in front of the gate.

“Ugh, how annoying.”

What was annoying?

The mysterious figure, clad in suspicious black clothes and a black mask, entered the gate without hesitation, as if it were a normal occurrence.

“That gate…”

Do Ihyeon, holding Choco, muttered in a small voice.

“It’s ours.”

His reaction was incredibly calm for a guild master whose gate was about to be stolen right before his eyes.

It was several hours later, just as dawn was breaking, that Dana emerged from the gate.

***

“Huh? Why is it bright…?”

It was clearly dark when I went in, wasn’t it?

A trickle of cold sweat ran down my spine as the sky gradually grew brighter.

“Sahin! Take this and leave it in front of the place I told you about. Don’t let anyone see you.”

[Understood.]

Sahin, carrying a bag full of dungeon byproducts, slowly disappeared. Seeing this, I, too, hurried home before the sun fully rose.

As soon as I slipped back into my room through the window, I changed into my pajamas at lightning speed and dove onto the bed.

“Aren’t you getting up? Yi Dana! Why is she sleeping so long today?”

As soon as I pulled the covers over myself, I heard my mom muttering outside my bedroom door, and then the door swung open without a knock.

“Get up! The sun is high in the sky! Aren’t you going to school?”

“Uh-oh… I gotta go.”

Rubbing my eyes and stretching as if I’d just woken up, I calmly stepped out of bed, trying to steady my pounding heart.

[Breaking News: This morning, a suspicious bundle was found at the entrance of the Onsaemiro Guild building. The bag was reportedly full of what are presumed to be byproducts from a dungeon the guild had won at auction. The guild confirmed that the gate they had won was raided and disappeared by someone.]

“Well, that’s something. They killed the boss monster and gave all the byproducts back. Is it Hong Gildong or something?”

“Hong Gildong, my foot. Completely different.”

“Ah, come on. Tsk.”

Eating breakfast with my usually affectionate parents, I watched the news with an indifferent gaze.

‘Good job. You delivered it properly.’

Inside, however, I silently praised myself.

The bundle Sahin had been carrying throughout the dungeon.

Those were the dungeon byproducts Sahin had collected before defeating the boss monster of the dungeon I’d explored.

Finding my way back was the most important thing, but I couldn’t just come out empty-handed after going in, could I?

I’d always felt guilty about the gates opening because of me, so while I was in there, I just dealt with the boss monster.

As for the byproducts, I couldn’t let the guild that won the dungeon suffer a loss, so I gathered them all up, put them in a bag, and left them there.

Watching the news report that the CCTV hadn’t captured who left the bundle, I left the house with mixed feelings.

“I’m off!”

I hoped to protect my precious sanity, no matter what I saw at school today.

***

“Hey, did you see the news this morning?”

“Oh, yeah. The Phantom Hunter?”

Huh?

Phantom Hunter?

It sounded like they were talking about me.

I listened intently to the sudden nickname and realized that another news channel had called me the Phantom Hunter.

The classroom was buzzing with talk about the events of dawn.

“I wish the Phantom Hunter would visit us too. Don’t you, Ganghan?” 

“Well, it’d be convenient.”

“Still, it’s our job; we should do it ourselves.”

Among them, the Four Heavenly Kings, who directly managed guilds, seemed particularly interested in the morning’s events.

Han Jibin, who had been sitting and shaking his legs back and forth while talking to Eunbada and Ji Ganghan, suddenly shot up.

He headed straight for Yeon Ha-yeon, who was sitting at the very front desk, right in front of the teacher’s podium, diligently solving practice problems as always.

“Haa.”

“I’m studying.”

“Uh-huh. I know, just one thing!”

Perhaps feeling significantly stressed by the interruption to her studies, a yogurt popped out of Yeon Ha-yeon’s bag.

I was surprised last time by a pack of 30, but today it was just a row of 5.

‘Does the number change depending on the intensity of the stress?’

No doubt the other five rows were still inside.

Leaning on my chin and listening, Han Jibin suddenly pointed at Yeon Ha-yeon and shouted,

“It’s you?!”

“Look. The incident happened at dawn, and all the dungeons were raided. But it doesn’t seem like a large group moved. So, that means one person did it alone. How many people could raid a dungeon by themselves and even deliver a bundle in such a short time?”

Despite his incredible deduction, I remained calm.

I had predicted being caught at this level. But what could I do? I had to take this risk.

‘I have no choice if I want to go home.’

“And since it’s not us, that leaves only you!”

Han Jibin, looking triumphant as if he’d made a huge discovery, stood up with his hands on his hips and smiled brightly.

“Are you an idiot?”

One of Han Jibin’s beaming arms dropped listlessly.

“What, what did you say? Why me?!”

Thump-

Yeon Ha-yeon put down her pen and looked at Han Jibin and the Four Heavenly Kings sitting behind him.

Oh, Ban Eunhyeol wasn’t in her seat yet because she was late.

“There are 12 people just in our chat room, aren’t there?”

“Ah, well.”

“Anyone in the top 10 would be more than capable of doing something like that.”

“That’s true, too.”

Han Jibin sheepishly accepted this, scratched his cheek, laughed, and awkwardly returned to his seat.

“Did you see him scratch his cheek just now? He’s seriously beyond cute!”

I stared blankly at my friend, who was frantically hitting my shoulder, completely engrossed in Han Jibin’s cuteness.

‘Even if my actions are discovered, no one knows who “Nada” is.

For now, finding a way back is the priority.’

I resolved to raid countless more dungeons in the future.